Sports

Denver Cutthroats veteran Brad Smyth is Crash Davis of hockey

Denver Cutthroats forward Brad Smyth has played for 21 professional hockey teams in his career. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Brad Smyth has played on the same line with Wayne Gretzky. He is an original member of the Nashville Predators. He has played for five teams in the past six years — each in a different country. In 20 seasons of professional hockey in 12 leagues, he has played 1,307 games for 21 teams — not including two or three stints with several of them.

But get this: Smyth, a.k.a. the "Crash Davis" of hockey, may have finally found a home.

"This could be where I really start thinking about the future, laying down some roots," Smyth said. "I'm really happy here right now. But I've learned for sure: You never get too comfortable in this business."

Smyth, 39, is a player and assistant coach with the expansion Denver Cutthroats of the Central Hockey League, playing for his best friend — coach Derek Armstrong — whom he has known since they were kids growing up in Ottawa.

Smyth has fast become beloved in the Cutthroats' dressing room, where some teammates who were just toddlers when he began his pro career revel in his stories, some including life in "The Show" that was his 88-game NHL career.

"Me, him and (A.J.) Gale, we drive together to the rink a lot, and we grill him all the time, like 'Tell us this story, tell us that story,' " said Cutthroats forward Troy Schwab, 27, who plays on the same line as Smyth and Gale. "The guy has a million stories. He's played everywhere. The first time I met him, I ask him, 'You played with Gretzky?' and he goes, 'Yep, first shift with Gretz, same line.' I mean, how many guys can say that?"

Asked to recount the story, Smyth said: "It was in Washington (April 14, 1988, with the New York Rangers), right at the end of the year. The Rangers had had a bad year and were way out of the playoffs, and you wouldn't blame a guy like Gretzky maybe not being all that interested in playing that game or in playing with a call-up like me.

"But right away, he came up to me and talked about some things we could try maybe together and was really focused. It showed me so much what being a pro is all about, and I've tried to have that same commitment no matter where I've been or at what level."

Brad Smyth and his wife, Jackie, relax after Friday's game. Smyth scored the Cutthroats' only goal during their 2-1 loss to the Allen Americans. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

The CHL arguably is the lowest level of pro hockey in Smyth's long career. Most players make only a few hundred dollars a week, though their living arrangements and health insurance are covered by their teams. Only on rare occasions do teams fly to games. Busing back and forth hundreds of miles at a time is normal. While attendance for Cutthroats games has been decent through its first couple of months in Denver, with crowds at times reaching more than 5,000, there have been nights such as last Tuesday against Rapid City when just a few hundred souls were inside the 60-year-old Denver Coliseum.

Still loves the game

Smyth thought he might retire as a player last year, after a season in France. But one day he got a call from Armstrong, his friend and former teammate with the Hartford (Conn.) Wolf Pack back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"I asked him if he'd come play for me. I wasn't too sure at first. You know, maybe he just didn't want to play for an expansion team and ride the buses in the CHL. But he wanted to, and I'm so happy he did. He's been great for us," Armstrong said.

Anyone who might have thought Smyth was a charity signing by his buddy was quickly disabused of the notion. Entering this weekend's games, Smyth ranked second among the Cutthroats in scoring with 13 goals and 29 points in 23 games. Though he also acts as an assistant to Armstrong and has been promised the chance of an expanded coaching role in the future, Smyth is looking at playing at least one more season. And who knows? Maybe more.

Cutthroats forward Brad Smyth, skating onto the ice at the Denver Coliseum on Friday night, also is an assistant coach for his Central Hockey League expansion team. He is paid more than the CHL's minimum salary of $390 per week for players with his experience. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

"I still like to play. That's the bottom line," said Smyth, who is paid more than the CHL's minimum salary of $390 per week for players with his experience, but he would not say how much more. "No one gets rich off playing in the Central League. But I still love coming to the rink and the camaraderie of the boys in the dressing room. We've got a great bunch of guys here. They've kept me feeling young."

Smyth's hockey smarts are evident. Though never blessed with the fastest skating or most ability, he still gets to the puck first more often than not. He knows how to curl off a check and still keep possession of the puck, or be ready for a pass and a quick one-timer around the net. He has never been shy about putting pucks on net, hence his nickname, "Shooter."

"He's always out there willing to teach us younger guys too," said Gale, 25, the Cutthroats' leading scorer with 31 points. "We get a lot of laughs out of him too. His pants are hiked up a little too high and his visor's tilted a little too much and his sticks have a little too much tape on them. He's got tape hanging all over his body."

Smyth, walking past Gale at that moment, was quick with a retort: " 'Galer', he's got one of the hardest shots in the league, and one of the hardest heads."

Like the "Crash Davis" character made famous in "Bull Durham" — in that case a career minor-league baseball player — Smyth talks of his time in "The Show" with a mix of reverence and a tinge of regret. He played 88 NHL games for five teams, his final 12 coming with his hometown Ottawa Senators in 2002-03, a time he describes as the happiest of his career.

Why weren't there more games in the NHL, especially for a guy who tore up the AHL with scoring seasons such as 68 goals in 68 games for the Carolina Monarchs in 1995-96 and 50 with the Wolf Pack in 2000-01? He was the AHL's most valuable player in 1995-96.

"I think teams wanted him to be a top-six forward, but if the numbers aren't there right away, then they stick you down to a third and fourth line, and I don't think Brad fit quite in that role as easy then. He was a scorer," Armstrong said.

Some thrills in NHL

Smyth's first NHL team was the 1995-96 Florida Panthers — the one that played the Avalanche for the Stanley Cup. In parts of two seasons with Florida, Smyth played 15 games, with two goals and one assist. His first game came in Buffalo, with Dominik Hasek in net for the Sabres.

"What a thrill, stepping on the ice for the first shift of your first NHL game," Smyth said.

In the seven games he played for the 1995-96 Panthers, he scored his first NHL goal against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Ed Belfour at the United Center. "We were on a 5-on-3, and I just kind of swatted in a rebound around the crease. I still have the puck framed," said Smyth, who lives at a Denver apartment complex with his wife of seven years, Jackie, and their black Labrador.

After making the Panthers out of training camp in 1996 and playing eight games, he was traded him to Los Angeles for a third-round pick. For a while, Smyth thought he might find a home with the Kings. He played 44 games and scored eight goals and had 16 points. He made the team out of camp in 1997 and scored three goals in his first nine games, then was traded to the Rangers for "future considerations."

"That was probably my lowest moment," Smyth said.

With the Rangers, he knew he would likely spend most of his time with their farm team in Hartford. He was right.

The Rangers traded him to Nashville in 1998, and despite having only a two-way contract, he made the team out of training camp and played in the franchise's first game at the old Gaylord Entertainment Center. Could this become a new home? No, he soon found out.

After three games, he was back in the minors with Nashville, which a year later traded him back to the Rangers. His last shot in the NHL were those 12 games in Ottawa in 2002-03. Since 2006, he has been on something of a "European Tour," playing for teams in Germany, Austria, Northern Ireland, Italy and France, knowing the NHL isn't calling anymore.

"In Germany one year, the owner gave us all BMWs to have during the season. You should have seen some of those rides to practice and back on the autobahn," Smyth said. "I've gotten to do a lot of amazing things. I'm not bitter at all. I've had a great life. And I'm still getting to do it."

Wish you were here: Postcards along the way

Brad Smyth's career is as much a Fodor travelogue as a hockey timeline. It includes an incredible 21 different professional teams, not including a few which he played for two or three times. We played a game of word association from each stop with Smyth on a recent day off at the Denver Coliseum, home of his latest hockey team, the CHL's Cutthroats.

Smyth bioAge: 39Birthplace: Ottawa, Ontario.Career facts: Has played in 12 different pro hockey leagues for 21 teams. ... Currently ranks 29th on the all-time American Hockey League scoring list (667 points in 610 games), he was the AHL's MVP in 1995-96 with Carolina. ... Played 88 NHL games for Florida, New York Rangers, Nashville, Los Angeles and Ottawa. First NHL game was Feb. 25, 1996, for Florida, in Buffalo. ... First NHL goal came March 11, 1996, for Florida at United Center in Chicago against the Blackhawks' Ed Belfour. ... Parents are retired school teachers. ... He has one sibling, brother Greg, who lives in Hong Kong. ... Has been married for seven years to wife, Jackie.

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